Undergrads challenged to find public health in everyday life

Public health is all around us, and some College of Public Health undergraduate students are challenged to prove it.

Clinical Assistant Professor Obianuju Genevieve Aguolu starts each semester by asking her PUBHLTH 2010: Critical Issues in Global Public Health students to dedicate a day to observing and documenting public health all around them. At the end of the semester — wiser and more informed — they do it again.

“The intention is to know where the students are starting and where they are ending up,” Aguolu said.

A photo of hand sanitizer at Thompson Library might be passable in week one, Aguolu said, but by the end of the semester students should be able to share more nuance about what they are seeing, who benefits and where there might be gaps in access.

For many students, this class is their first foray into public health. It showcases the role public health plays in our lives, reflects on strides in health and well-being and presents the pressing global concerns of today. And as a General Education course, it brings together undergraduate students from majors across the university.

Aguolu, who teaches the honors section of the course, said one of her goals is to encourage non-public health majors to identify ways they can bring a community-health focused mindset to their career path.

“Every field can contribute to public health,” she said.

Derrick Dedino, an aspiring physician who recently graduated with a degree in neuroscience, took the class this spring. It was his first public health class at Ohio State, which he said offered a refreshing and holistic perspective on health.

“As a pre-medical student, you are kind of automatically geared toward thinking about the treatment side and the screening side, but prevention is also very important and changing infrastructure is also extremely important,” he said. “It broadened my perspective.”

Public health major Adesewa Adeweso took the course during the fall, her first semester at Ohio State. Even with previous exposure to public health, she struggled to identify examples, snapping a photo of a cleaning cart in her residence hall.

By the end of the semester, Adeweso was thinking about how the HVAC system in her building provides clean air and temperature regulation. She noticed how the community study room provides a safe, sheltered space for focus and gathering with friends.

“It’s so much more than just a study room…it contributes to the health of students in a way I didn’t think of [the first time],” she said.

In addition to the “Public Health in a Day” assignment, PUBHLTH 2010 students explore public health in the news, art, books and other media. They also work through case studies and research a public health issue that has global significance.

Aguolu said one of the most rewarding aspects of the class is seeing how students considering public health as a major transform during the semester.

“I have some of them walking up to me and saying, ‘now I’ve made up my mind after being in this class, this is really something that I want to do,’” she said.